The present invention relates to improvements in lighted and covered visor mirror assemblies.
Covered and illuminated visor mirrors mounted to or within the visor of a vehicle are becoming increasingly popular as a vehicle accessory. Covers are important to their design since, when the visor is normally employed as a sunshade without a cover on the mirror, the exposed mirror surfaces at the headlevel of the vehicle passenger or driver poses a significant hazard in the form of potential glass shattering which can result in serious cuts in the event of an accident. Additionally, covers are desirable since when the mirror is not in use, it can reflect ambient light and cause a distraction to the vehicle operator. Covers are desirable also from an appearance standpoint since the cover can be textured or upholstered to match the vehicle interior and the visor exterior, and when the mirror is not in use and the visor is used as a sunshade, the visor presents a clean and neat appearance with the mirror and mirror lights enclosed behind the cover.
Visor mirrors of the type to which the present invention pertains are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,926,470, issued Dec. 16, 1975, to Konrad H. Marcus, and 4,075,468, issued Feb. 21, 1978, to Konrad H. Marcus, both of which are assigned to the present assignee. With such illuminated visor mirrors, the covers can be moved from a fully closed to a fully opened position and held in these positions by a crank arm and spring arrangement. Improvements to this mounting arrangement for a visor cover have been made and are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 958,968, filed Nov. 9, 1978, entitled COVERED VISOR MIRROR and assigned to the present assignee.
In these lighted mirror visor assemblies, it is desirable to have two levels of illumination for the user. Thus, in some instances, it is desirable to have a relatively low level of illumination which is less distracting to the vehicle operator but permits the passenger, for example, to check his or her appearance. The lighted visor mirror also can provide illumination to the interior of the vehicle for reading a map or the like, or for touching up ones makeup and in such cases, a greater level of illumination is desired. In the prior art, a two position switch has been provided which is manually actuated by the user of the visor mirror system to switch between dim and bright positions. Opening of the cover actuates a switch to automatically apply power to the lights but the degree of illumination is selected by the bright-dim switch. As can be appreciated, when the lighted visor mirror is used, the vehicle interior is darkened and if the bright-dim switch is left in the bright position, which frequently occurs, opening of the visor cover can cause momentary night blindness which can cause a significant distraction to the driver as well as the person using the mirror. Also, the provision of a separate bright-dim switch for controlling the intensity of illumination poses an inconvenience for the visor mirror user.